Ethnopharmacology of Medicinal Plants

From the reviews: "This book contains brief descriptions and evaluations of some active ingredients and the medicinal uses of about 100 plants found in Asia ... . The stated purpose is to show the rich source of potential drugs in the estimated 6,000 plant species in Asia ... . This objective is met ... . A unique feature of the book is the emphasis on similar chemicals found in some plant families ... . Adequate references to the scientific literature are given for each plant." (Stata Norton, Doody's Book Review Service, January, 2007) "This book presents several aspects of the pharmacology, chemistry, botany and folkloric use of selected medicinal plants that can be found in Asia and the Pacific. It is generously illustrated with line drawings for many of the plants under discussion, as well as examples of chemical structures. ... The book is organized into three chapters ... . This book should be of interest to academic, industrial or government scientists with an interest in the potential of the regional flora for drug discovery." (James Graham, Phytomedicine, Vol. 15, 2008)

• 1. Anti-Inflammatory Plants. 1.1. General Concept. 1.2. Inhibitors of Phospholipase A2. 1.3. Inhibitors of Cyclooxygenase. 1.4. Inhibitors of Lipoxygenases. 1.5. Inhibitors of Elastase. 1.6. Inhibitors of Nitric Oxide Synthetase. 1.7. Conclusion and Future Prospects. 1.8. References. 2. Plant Affecting the Central Nervous System. 2.1. General Concept. 2.2. Plants Affecting the Serotoninergic Neurotransmission. 2.3. Plants Affecting the GABAergic Neurotransmission. 2.4. Plants Interfering with the Glycinergic System. 2.5. Plants Affecting the Dopaminergic Neurotransmission. 2.6. Conclusion and Future Prospect. 2.7. References. 3. Plants for Chemotherapy of Neoplastic Diseases. 3.1. General Concept. 3.2. Topoisomerase Inhibitors. 3.3. Apoptosis. 3.4. Summary and Future Prospects. 3.5. References.